Comedian, actress and TV host Rosie O'Donell made headlines in January, when she made statements that she would be relocating to Ireland along with her 12-year-old child, Clay, because of concerns about the Trump Administration entering the White House in Janaury 2025. Reportedly, she applied for citizenship through the eligibility of descent, by having Irish grandparents.
Some viral posts on X and a satirical article from The Dunning Kruger Times claimed she had been rejected for citizenship and had to return to the United States. Rosie O'Donnell still has work scheduled in the US, including a guest role in HBO's new season of, "And Just Like That" and made an appearance on the Irish TV show, "The Late Late Show". She is able to freely travel in between the US and Ireland and claims otherwise have been discredited.
Both Ireland and the US allow dual citizenship for their citizens, although there are some restrictions. US citizens must show their US passport at the border or a US embassy. In the event of hostilities between the US and another nation, the US might also question government or military members who have citizenship from that hostile nation. Ireland and the US also have a bilateral tax treaty, that seeks to prevent double taxation, by allowing tax exemptions when workers have already been taxed in one country.
Ireland and the US both allow each other's citizens to come to Ireland or the US on a visa waver, for up to 90 days for business or tourism. Irish travelers do first need to be approved through an ESTA Authorization (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) before they take a flight to the US. US nonresident citizens traveling to Northern Ireland (part of the UK) are required to first have an ETA (UK Electronic Travel Authorization) as of January 8th, 2025. All US citizens will have to meet this requirement starting on April 2nd, 2025.
Despite the ability for citizens to freely travel, there have been some tensions between the US and Ireland regarding tariffs and trade negotiations in 2025. Trump recently had a White House meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin where he criticized Irish tax policies that in Trump's words, gave unfair advantage and favorable tax status to pharmaceutical companies that relocated to Ireland. As well, Ireland has raised concerns about a Trump proposed 25% tariff on steel and aluminum coming from the EU to the US. The Irish government has warned that this action alone could reduce the Irish economy up to 2%.
Overall trade negotiations between the US and Ireland have been favorable and a St Patrick's visit to the White House by the Irish premiere had moved negotiations forward where mutual benefits of a proposed trade agreement were a key component of the discussion.
Rosie O'Donnell did not come up during the Irish-US trade negotiations and she will not be sent back to the US against her will at this time.